« previous | TPM CAFÉ READER POSTS HOME | next »
My Latest HuffingtonPost.com post: "NOT MY G-G-GENERATION"
Guys, this is a post of mine just up yesterday over at the HuffingtonPost.com's Off the Bus politics page, where I analyze what I see is the deciding factor in this political race, within both parties, and overall in our society: that it's not a matter of racism or sexism--although there has been plenty of that for sure--but that what we are undergoing right now is a transition, a titanic changing-of-the-guard between baby boomers gripping tightly to power, and the "Millennial" generation--those who came of age in the 90's and the turn of the century--coming into their own.
One commenter pointed out something that I'd tried somewhat clumsily to mention in the post, that it's not just a matter of young people as it is a matter of WIRED people--those who are hip to the Internet, to online news sources and opinions, and to the vast organizational and fund-raising capabilities available there that only Barack Obama seems to have caught and fully implemented the earliest.
But I also see this generational changeover occurring in the military, the civil rights movement, the women's movement, and other spectrums of our society.
It's a long piece for a blogpost, but worth it, I think, and the comments have been great.
Come join us over at HuffingtonPost, and be sure and leave comments. I'd love to hear whatcha think:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/deanie-mills/not-my-g-g-generation_b_102069.html
Look forward to seeing you there!
Deanie
Comments (11)
I'm a member of the millennial generation? Cool. I had no idea they had come up with a name for us, much less a pretty cool one.
May 17, 2008 1:06 PM | Reply | Permalink
P.S. I think you are right on there.
May 17, 2008 1:06 PM | Reply | Permalink
Hey, Jsmith0316--it's great to see you here. I know what you mean about the name--my kids are Millenneals, (27 and 30) and they never really thought they fit into that whole "Gen-X" thing, and calling them "Gen-Y" was really lame.
This fits, I think. It's funny but, it never ceases to amaze me how selective the memories are of my same-age friends, not just about the 60's, but about what they were doing during them ha ha.
May 17, 2008 1:51 PM | Reply | Permalink
My wife and both remember the times well: We were both studying our brains out... :-) :-)
We do not have children (having met late in life), but we both interact with "millenials" regularly and do our best to relate with them and to try to connect history, the present and the future. We are both optimistic about how see in their connectedness, and how they are working through this time in history.
It is interesting to be in a position to be historical, while watching new history be made daily.
May 17, 2008 2:12 PM | Reply | Permalink
Yesterday I talked politics with our new 20 year old intern, who's an aspiring economic & poli sci geek. And when the topic of racism & sexism came up he actually said that he just doesn't understand why it's such a big deal. Then in a similar conversation with our new 30-something lawyer I heard the same thing.
Both of these kids are native LDS Utahns.
Of course, I hope they learn the history of civil rights and feminism in America at some point to at least understand why their elders are so fixated on the fact that Obama's black or Clinton's a woman. But the fact that they've grown up in a time when woman like me were already lawyers, doctors, and politicians, and where civil rights was at least theoretically successful, completely changes their view of what matters.
At 49 I know something of this, having been lumped in with Boomers my whole life, when I have no memory of hippies, the Kennedy's, MLK, Vietnam...and my formative memories were Watergate, Three Mile Island, Iran-Contra, and Chernobyl. Change isn't always great these days, but this change has real promise.
May 17, 2008 2:48 PM | Reply | Permalink
Great comment, Eliyah--and you hit the nail on the head about one of the key differences between the two generations.
I remember being stunned to see George Will, conservative columnist, say on Stephanopolous that gay marriage and gay rights as issues are not that big of a deal anymore even among young conservatives. He said one of his children said, "Dad, being gay is like being...left-handed."
I'll be curious to see how much support the gay-marriage-banning constitutional ammendment threatened in CA to overturn the well-respected judicial ruling this past week will garner, especially when even the governor says he will respect the court.
Race, too--intermarriage is now so common, even among presidential candidates!--that it's not that big of a deal either.
Change is coming, one way or the other, and thank God for it.
May 17, 2008 4:00 PM | Reply | Permalink
My oldest graduated from high school in 2000 then the next in 2003 and the next in 2006. They are the new generation of poll workers and activist. Even the NAACP just elected a 35 year old president. I called CSPAN one night when they were asking for WV voters before the primary. I told them of the level of involvement I see in my own children, and how I was ready to turn the nation over to them since it seems that we baby-boomers have made a mess of it. Even younger co-workers, who thought I was a bit wacky (I stood for election at the local level) are paying attention this cycle.
May 17, 2008 10:45 PM | Reply | Permalink
Thank God for the Millenials. I have had it with Boomer pre-occupation with Rev. Wright, Bill Ayers, "electability," and "we need a fighter!"
I have noticed that nearly all of the comments you see here and on HuffPo from Hillary voters threatening not to vote for Obama are Boomer women (they usually proudly identify their age).
Didn't a commentator recently point out that Obama is expected to take Generation Jones in the election (the generation voting block that has decided our last few elections)?
May 18, 2008 3:22 AM | Reply | Permalink
The Hypothesis of the WIRED citizen/voter is, I believe correct.
Corollary #1 -- Education and/or the desire to make decisions based on independent thought irrespective of educational attainment.
Corollary #2 -- Interest in and acceptance of "other" cultures.
Corollary #3 -- Evidence that is change occurring reinforces personal commitment to greater change.
May 18, 2008 10:16 AM | Reply | Permalink
Amen, arleang. Couldn't have said it better myself.
And libgirl, you're right. Hillary's base is boomer women and their moms, to put it bluntly.
BUT, let's not forget--there are plenty of us boomer women firmly in Obama's camp--as is my mom, for that matter.
She hasn't got all of us, and maybe over the next few months, we can bring over some of our sistuhs. If not, then, so be it. Some of the hostility toward him by older voters may in fact be latent racism--they would deny it vociferously, but you gotta wonder sometimes...
May 18, 2008 10:56 AM | Reply | Permalink
I have been shocked to watch my demographic follow Hillary like lemmings.
We remember the first edition of Ms. Magazine. We lived on communes between college and grad school. We became, lawyers, teachers, social workers. reformers, politicians and always we thought of ourselves as feminists. So, how I ask, could they support a woman who is clearly a part of the military industrial complex which has nothing to do with feminism and marginalizes women and children at its core.
Hillary's agenda has been transparent for years. She has learned to ignore the fact that she does nothing for women, that she did insider trading in the commodities market, that she walked all over the women Bill slept with and used them to jump start her deal with the devil and stayed with a man because she could ride in on his coattails. Or so she thought. She's a con artist.
What my peers see in her makes me look back and realize I didn't know them at all. I don't care if they write legislation for domestic violence or something similar, this is meaningless when one's politics support the infrastructure that allows poverty, violence and helplessness.
I will not follow a reproductive system to the White House because it looks like mine. I love the fact Obama is tech savvy and wants to use it. The future is forward not backwards.
We listened to Dylan but was everyone too stoned to remember? I made my mother listen to these lyrics many many years ago...and last week my youngest emailed them to me. Those who scream, "It's our time." have forgotten - no - it's theirs..and they are so much fun..and so enlightened in so many ways and they are living what we gave them...a better world in many ways. Not perfect, but better.
Come senators, congressmen
Please heed the call
Don't stand in the doorway
Don't block up the hall
For he that gets hurt
Will be he who has stalled
There's a battle outside
And it is ragin'.
It'll soon shake your windows
And rattle your walls
For the times they are a-changin'.
Come mothers and fathers
Throughout the land
And don't criticize
What you can't understand
Your sons and your daughters
Are beyond your command
Your old road is
Rapidly agin'.
Please get out of the new one
If you can't lend your hand
For the times they are a-changin'.
May 26, 2008 5:49 AM | Reply | Permalink
Post a Comment